Book-support or copy-holder.



No. 707,979'. Patented-Angus, |902.A 1a. w. sAwvEn.

Book suPPoRT os `r :'oPY Homes.

K (Application led Oct. 11, 1901:) (N Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GERNARD W. SAWYER,.OF EL RENO, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY.

BOOK-SUPPORT OR COPY-l-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. '70'7,979,`dated August 26, 1902.

Application filed October 11, 1901. Serial No. '781370. (No model.)

To @ZZ whomit may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEENAED W. SAWYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at El Reno, in the county of Canadian and Territory of Oklahoma, have invented a new and useful Book-Support or Copy-Holder,of which the following is aspeciflcation.

This invention relates to book-supports in general, and has for its object to provide an improved device of this character which is arranged to support books of different sizes and also for the support'of copy in connection with a'type-writer and similar uses.'u It is also designed to arrange for conveniently feeding the copy vertically and for marking or indicating the lines of the copy as they are being copied and iinally to provide for adj usting the inclination of the support.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown inthe accompanying drawings,and particularly pointed out in the appended claims,l it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, andminor details may be made within the scope fof the `claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages ofthe invention. Y

In the drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of a book-support and copy-holder constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view. Figi 4 is a detail view of -the `operating device for elevating the copy upon the holder. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view on the line 6 6 of Fig. l.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, l designates a base from `the center of which rises a fixed standard 2, upon the upper end of which is mounted a rectangular plate or back 3, forming a book and' copy supporting element. The back is supported at its center upon the top of the standard, to which it is connected by means of a suitable hinged or pivotal connection 4, which will permit of a vertical tilting of the back to adjust the inclination thereoi. It will be understood that the standard is designed to be of any desired length, so as to permit of the device being formed in different sizes, some for desk use and others in the capacity of a stand to rest upon the floor, and in any event the standard should be long enough to permit of the back assuming a vertical position, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

For adjusting the back upon its pivotal support there is provided an arcuate rack 5,

having its opposite ends secured to the rear 4side of the back andtoothed upon its inner edge, its outer'or convex edge being free from projections. This rack is slightly greater than a'semicircle and is struck from the pivotal connection 4 as a center, there being a slot or opening 6 formed in the lower portion of the standard for the reception of the rack. Upon the standard, preferably at the front thereof and extending across the upper end ofthe slot, there is mounted a gravity-latch 7, designed to drop into the notches of the rack, and thereby lock the back at any desired inclination. The free end of this latch projects beyond the standard and is formed into a suitable finger-piece '72, as be'st shown in Fig. 5, there being a looped guide '8 spanning the vfree portion of the latch and secured to the standard, thus to obviate looseness of the latch. As the outer edge of the rack is smooth, it is designed to bear against the bottom of the opening in the standard, thereby vto brace the back without interfering with the convenient adjustment'thereof.

Extending transversely across the front side of theback 3 and near the lower'end thereof is a book-ledge 9, and projecting from opposite sides of the body and from the top are endwise-slidable book-supporting arms 10, which are mounted in grooves in the rear side of the back and are provided at their outer ends with transversely-disposed heads 11.

Slidable vertically upon the front side of the back is a copy-supporting carriage 12, which is in the form of an angle-plate, one member of which rests fiat against the back and the other projects outwardly therefrom in the form of a ledge. Upon the outer side of the body of this carriage there is provided a pair of spring clips or ingers 13, which cooperate with the carriage to clamp sheets of IOO paper therebetween. For the adjustment of the carriage there are provided two straps or belts 14, running in grooves 14 in the front and rear sides of the back and suitably secured to one side of the carriage-in this instance the lower side-by lateral extensions 15, projected from the carriage and overlapping the grooves 14, so as to engage the back and form braces to obviate tilting of the carriage when weight is applied thereto. In alinement with the upper and lower ends of the back are mounted rollers 16 and 17, and to the roller 17 is secured the free ends of the straps or belts 14, the roller 16 forming a guide or bearing for the said straps. At one end of the roller 17 there is provided a ratchetdisk 1S (best shown in Fig. 4) and a springactuated dog 19, mounted upon one of the brackets 19, that support the roller, and engages with the ratchet-disk. The dog has a suitable finger-piece 20 to facilitate its disengagement from the ratchet-disk, and a suitable operating-handle 21 is tted to the end of the roller to facilitate turning thereof to feed the carriage vertically upon the back. It will be seen by the arrangement described that when the roller is turned in one direction the belts 14 will be wound thereon, thereby raising the carriage 12, the dog 19 by coaction with the ratchet-disk holding the carriage in its adjusted position. To effect automatic return of the carriage toward the lower end of the back,a spring 22 is providedin this instance a coiled spring, such as an ordinary clock-spriug-the same being arranged in a groove 23, formed in the outer face of the back and having its inner whirl secured to a transverse axle 23, held against turning in any preferred manner common to winding-arbors, the free end of the spring being secured to the lower edge of the carriage 12. If preferred, this spring may be housed in a stationary spring-barrel, from which it may be fed in the same manner as the tape of an ordinary spring tape-measure, and as this will be obvious detailed illustration is deemed unnecessary. When the carriage is raised by turning the roller 17 the spring will be placed under tension, and when the dog 19 is released from engagement with the ratchet-disk the spring operates automatically to return the carriage toward the lower edge of the back. It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the employment of a spring such as described, as it will be obvious that an ordinary spiral spring may be substituted for the coiled spring and still be within the scope of the invention. The inner side of the stationary ledge 9 is provided with a recess or socket 24 (shown in Fig. 2) for the reception of the ledge portion of the carriage, and it also has an opening 25 for each projection upon the carriage.

To elect convenient marking of the lines of a copy, there is provided a transverse marker 26 in the form of a beveledged ruler, which lies transversely across the upper portion of the front side of the back and is projected beyond the vertical sides thereof, the beveled edges being provided with a scale corresponding to that of type-Writers in common use. Each end of the marker has associated with it a supporting-arm 27 in the form of a rod which extends upward at substantially right angles to the marker and has an upper inwardly-directed terminal projection or pin 28, that is sprung into a suitable socket or opening formed in the side edges of the back, presenting thereby a support for the marker and a pivotal means upon which the marker may be swung upwardly and over the top edge of the back when not required for use-as, for instance, when a large book is upon the device and the book-supporting arms 10 are employed. It is to be understood that the arms 27 may extend beyond the ruler any desired distance to allow a copy or book wider than the ruler or marker to pass between these arms, the object of this arrangement being that when copying from large books the arms will hold the pages open and the marker can be slid on the horizontal rod and used for either' page and from one side to the other.

An antifriction-roller 29 is provided for the support of a copy or book and is mounted in a recess formed transversely across the back, as shown in Fig. l.

As best indicated in Fig. 6, the carriage is provided with antifriction-rollers 30, secured to the rear side thereof and bearing against the front wall of the grooves 14 beneath straps, so as not to interfere with the action of the same.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a device ot' the character described, the combination of a back adj ustably mounted upon a suitable support and having its front and rear surfaces provided with alined longitudinal grooves, rollers mounted at the ends of the back and extending across the terminals of the grooves, a carriage disposed transversely of the front of the back, straps traveling in the grooves and secured at one end to the carriage and at the other end to one of the rollers, aratchet device for the latter roller, operating means for the roller, and antifriction-rollers carried by the carriage and traveling in the respective grooves in the front of the back and behind the straps.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a back adj ustably mounted upon a suitable support, a top and opposite side extensible arms mounted in grooves in the rear side of the back, a carriage slidable upon the front side of the back, means for adj ustably moving the carriage, a ratchet device therefor, a spring constructed to return the carriage to its normal position when the ratchet is released, a marker extending transversely across the front side of the back, and provided with opposite terminal arms which are pivoted to the IOO IIO

respective edges ofthe back, the marker bemy own I have hereto afxed my signature in ing capable of being swung over upon the the presence of two Witnesses. rear side of the back upon the pivotal conv nections of the arms as centers, and an anti- GEEN ARD W SAWYER 5 friction-roller let into the front side of the Witnesses:

back. CEAS. H. FILSON,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as MILES A. MCPEAK. 

